In 2017 five-year-old Julia traveled with her mother, Guadalupe, from Honduras to the United States. Her harrowing journey took her through Mexico in the cargo section of a tractor trailer. Then she was separated from her mother,who was held hostage by smugglers who exploited her physically and financially. At the United States border, Julia came through the processing center as an unaccompanied minor after being separated from her stepdad who was deported.

Gena Thomastells the story of how Julia came to the United States, what she experienced in the system, and what it took to reunite her with her family. A Spanish-speaking former missionary, Gena became Julia's foster mother and witnessed firsthand the ways migrant children experience trauma. Weaving together the stories of birth mother and foster mother, this book shows the human face of the immigrant and refugee, the challenges of the immigration and foster care systems, and the tenacious power of motherly love.



Michelle Ferrigno Warren is the president and CEO of Virago Strategies, a consulting group that provides strategic direction and project management for civic engagement campaigns alongside communities impacted by racial and economic injustice. Shehelped found Open Door Ministries, a community development 501(c)(3) corporation in downtown Denver, to address poverty, addiction, and homelessness through social programs. With policy expertise in economic justice and human service issues, she hasserved as advocacy and strategic engagement director for the Christian Community Development Association and done coalition work with the National Immigration Forum. Warren is a senior fellow with the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute and adjunct faculty at Denver Seminary. She and her husband live in Denver's Westside neighborhood and have three adult children. She is the author of The Power of Proximity.







Gena Thomas is a writer and speaker who works at a nonprofit that empowers others through holistic development. She served as a missionary in northern Mexico for four years, holds a master's degree in international development, and is the author of A Smoldering Wick: Igniting Missions Work with Sustainable Practices. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her husband, Andrew, and their two children.



Foreword by Michelle Ferrigno Warren

Introduction: Julia



Part I: Honduras

1. Emigración

2. Expatriation



Part II: Mexico

3. Río Bravo

4. Rio Grande



Part III: United States

5. Unaccompanied Minor

6. Dependent Children

7. Foster Daughter

8. "Quién Es Usted a Mi?" ("Who Are You to Me?")



Part IV: Honduras

9. Reunification/Reunificación

10. Reflections



Epilogue: Dear Julia

Acknowledgments

Appendix A: A Note to Other Foster Parents

Appendix B: An Interview with Elí Romero

Appendix C: Small-Group Discussion Questions

Notes

Glossary

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